Malayan Union

The Malayan Union was a British colony that existed from 1 April 1946 to 31 January 1948, with its capital at Kuala Lumpur. On 1 April 1946, Sir Edward Gent became the governor of the union; the sultans - the traditional rulers of the Malay states - conceded all their powers to the British crown except in religious matters. The British governor's rule over Malaya formally inaugurated British colonial rule, in Malaya, and the Malays opposed the creation of the union due to the British offering citizenship to non-Malays (such as ethnic Chinese), the reduction of the powers of the Sultans, and the methods used by Sir Harold MacMichael to force the sultans to submit. Penang and Malacca, the Straits Settlements, were ceded to Malaya to create the union, which declared independence in 1948 as the Federation of Malaya.